Apparatus for forming folded food products are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,912,035 and 7,487,718, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In embodiments of such apparatus, a machine carries a plurality of folding platforms for forming the folded food products. The folding platform includes a base, at least one flap pivotally mounted to the base, and a lift arm pivotally mounted to the base. In some instances a second and third flap may also be pivotally mounted to the base. The folding platform further includes a channel-shaped depression. In some embodiments, the flap generally includes a ridge for folding a tortilla or other food product. The ridge is generally sized and shaped for a particular food product size and diameter. For example, the ridge on the flap of a first platform may have a twenty-five millimeter diameter curve for creating a small taquito, and a ridge on the flap of a second platform may have a thirty-five millimeter diameter curve for creating a larger taquito. When a user wishes to manufacture food products of different sizes or geometries they must remove the platforms having the first sized ridge from the machine and replace them with platforms having a second sized ridge.
During production of the food product, a tortilla is placed or draped on the folding platform in a more or less centered position, after which a portion of a food filling is deposited on the tortilla above the approximate location of the depression in the base. The first flap of the folding platform is then initially actuated by being rotated/overturned about a respective hinge in a pivoting motion with respect to the base, after which the first flap is returned to its starting position. This causes a first side of the tortilla to be folded more or less entirely over the food filling portion, thereby creating a first fold in the tortilla. For some food products, such as a burrito for example, additional folding flaps are useful. However, where the folding platform includes a second and third flaps, each of the second and third flaps are actuated next by being rotated/overturned about their respective hinges in separate sequential pivoting motion with respect to the base, after which the second and third flaps are returned to their starting positions. These actuations cause opposite second and third sides of the tortilla to be folded both toward each other and on top of the previously folded first side of the tortilla, thereby creating respective second and third folds in the tortilla. In some embodiments, the food product is then lifted by the lift arm and transferred to a removal assembly for further folding. For example, in some embodiments, the removal assembly could be the removal assembly 3222 of FIG. 19, which includes first and second tracks 3224a, 3224b and a central arm 3226 that interface with the lift arm during removal of the food product. During transfer, the lift arm may contact components of the removal assembly 3222 where they have become misaligned, or food product that has not been removed. In such scenarios, the lift arm may be undesirably manipulated or even break off.
What is needed in the art is a folding platform that includes an improved lift arm. What is also needed in the art is a folding platform that can easily be altered to accommodate food products of different sizes/dimensions and/or geometries, e.g., a first food product of one size and a second food product of a second size different than the first size.